the city in the dark and the little boy who lived there
by writtenby
Summary: he lived


**title: **the city in the dark and the little boy who lived there  
**summary: **he lived

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_he blows the smoke through his fingers, death breathing in, death breathing out. rising up and down. _

_"stop that, asai yusei" she says, "that'll kill you someday"_

_he just shrugs through the thin black fabric of his shirt. "that's good"_

_minako. his love, her lovely. she can't do anything, not even her, _

_the artists find ways to escape and no one can stop them, not even death_

_she just stares then, covered in bedsheets and eyes filled with spiraling blankness and some sort of fear_

_"that's good" he says again and_

_she can't tell if he's talking about her or him. _

_._

_._

_._

he lights the cigarette and blows the smoke through his fingers in that comfortable way

"stop that" kizuna scowls. "you'll die"

he shrugs "that's good"

kizuna. girl like an explosion, like a dying star, like life. she is reminded of a man given up, she reminds him of giving up.

she just stares at him then, bare and eyes filled with some sort of emotion, he doesn't know but it's not fear

minako flashes before his eyes, lovely and lovely in death

"that's good" he says again

this time, he is not sure

not sure if he's talking about himself or minako's replacement

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_"are you afraid to die?" she asks like she's expecting something_

_looks at his lips like she thinks the answer will be perching there_

_he doesn't answer_

_never does, you know_

_artists, so mysterious, always, always_

_she parts her lips like she's about to ask again_

_but they close and she doesn't _

_he doesn't answer_

_he never answers_

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"what's your biggest regret in life?" kizuna asks curiously eyes wide like a doe

he notices always notices

wider than hers, larger than hers, eyelashes longer, pupils darker

more earthly

minako was a heaven thing, here one moment, gone the next

until God took her like that

what's his biggest regret he wonders himself

he thinks about it and almost answers

"im not afraid to die"

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_"why would you say that" _

_she looks at him, not afraid_

_not afraid of him, perhaps something else_

_vaguely he thinks "what's scarier"_

_and he knows exactly what it is_

_for her it's always looming on the horizon, it is her fate,  
_

_she sees it coming before it hits her and she is afraid. _

_"i don't know"_

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"what's this"

she never calls him by his name, she always did

like asai yusei asai yusei never ending for infinity until infinity ended

"it's a boy"

she cocks her head to one side, bedsheets pooling

"yes, i can see that"

only she can't, only he can and only minako could (_could_) see that

boy standing there alone until the sun came up and joined him

that was the two of them

doesn't understand, she doesn't understand

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_"paint a boy asai yusei" she said, eyes striking_

_unearthly again_

_he ponders why as he sucks death in through his mouth_

_the city that rises with the sun shines behind her (city that she'll never see)_

_brighter than her_

_but she is brighter than it_

_the radiance nearly kills him, more than the cancer stick dangling between his lips_

_so yeah, he decides_

_"yeah, i'll draw a boy"_

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"what's his name?" kizuna asks

she's so curious all the time

"mikey chuck" he smiles

last thing that can still bring a smile to his lips

besides the death that hangs between them

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_"what's his name" he asks her_

_the odd boy in the baseball cap_

_stands out in a different way than him_

_but some days they are the same_

_him and him _

_she ponders, last few things that_

_she can decide on her own anymore _

_that fear_

_that fear taking her over –_

_"mikey chuck" she smiles_

_he remembers that smile haunts him taunts him _

_before its gone_

_he doesn't remember if it was just that moment where it disappeared, or if it meant forever_

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"where're we going" kizuna demands

some days he just isn't in the mood doesn't answer doesn't want to

he doesn't wanna do this anyways you know

but he needs money needs it desperately

needs it more than when he was minako just a young artist

its not even to escape, his art isn't

now it's just to live

keep on living, even though he doesn't know why he does

he walks into the gallery, kizuna stops

"you're gonna showcase your art?" she asks, incredulous

he doesn't answer, just nods

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_"are you ever gonna do a big showing" says minako_

_no, he nods_

_whats the point if the most important person cant even see it_

_"i am showcasing it" he gestures around the room_

_"and its just for you"_

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even death cant see in the dark, is what kizuna thinks

he's a mystery, that man

she cant tell if that's why he sometimes turns off the light

or if its why he keeps the lights on

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_"its so dark in here, asai yusei turn on the lights" _

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"why don't you turn off the lights" she breathes into his ear, lighter than the clothes on her back

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_there are no clothes on her back_

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there are no clothes on her back

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_the light is turned on but she isn't there anymore_

_lost her in the dark, he thinks_

_i lost her. i lost _

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_her_

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he turns off the lights

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_fin_


End file.
